In the loading bay of an aircraft, particularly a high capacity aircraft, containers or pallets are normally conveyed on roller tracks inside the loading bay, said roller tracks comprising fixing rails, said fixing rails being attached to a loading deck of an aircraft. In addition, power drive units (generally called PDUs) are used for conveying and are mostly individually attached to the loading deck. In addition, locking bar elements, either directly fixed to the loading deck or as part of these said fixing rails, are used to attach the containers and pallets. Such a customary arrangement is for example known from DE 29 08 400 A1.
The general problem with such arrangements comprises several aspects. In the first place, the whole arrangement must possess a high degree of stability, for the failure of just a few elements or loading devices can lead to a risk situation—e.g. if locking bar elements fail—or to considerable interruptions during loading or unloading—if power drive units or rollers break down—which in turn involves expensive time delays. Nevertheless, all elements must be as light as possible for loading onto the aircraft to allow a high useful load weight. A further aspect to be considered is that the requirements to be met often vary from plane to plane, e.g. concerning the arrangement of locking bar elements. Devices already in place often have to be modified, in order to convert a plane in a suitable manner, even, as the case may be, for a single trip.
The known arrangement is thus not yet perfect in all these respects.